One of the first novels that truly started me on the path to what would become a life long love with reading. The protagonist, a tragic actor, is so likeable with his catty attitude that he takes you on a trip to a very new & different world. And, his boyfriend is a joy, too. Mary Renault was a genius. She bravely presented the LGBTQ community, as well as she & her partner. I've committed myself to collecting her entire collection of writings. It has been 20-year's since we lost her and her writing still holds up. ( )

Ha egy görögökről szóló jó történelmi regény ismérve, hogy az ember egy picit görög akar lenni utána, akkor ez egy jó történelmi regény. Mary Renault a műfaj klasszikus hagyományaiból építkezik – regénye egyfelől útikönyv egy eltűnt időről és helyről, gusztusos időutazás, másfelől pedig egy jelentős (bár nem feltétlenül közismert) történelmi esemény eredeti interpretációja. És nem mellesleg celebspotting, amiben a jelenkori olvasó belebámulhat bizonyos azóta elporladt hírességek sorsába is. E könyv fő celebje maga Platón, a cselekmény gócpontjában pedig az áll, ahogy a kaporszakállú bölcs megkísérli filozófiai elméletét az államról a valóságba integrálni, és a vajgerincű, gyenge jellemű szicíliai zsarnok, Dionüsziosz mentoraként kialakítani a tökéletes kormányzatot. Itt már tetten érhető a kötet első ellentétpárja: a letisztult filozófia meg a racionális ész áll szemben az egyéni gyarlósággal, no meg a politikai machinációk, a kétszínűség futóhomokjával. Akik vettek részt ókortörténeti vagy filozófiai szigorlaton, talán emlékeznek, sikeres volt-e a platóni nekifeszülés, a többieknek meg elspoilerezem: nem. Hihetetlenül érdekes téma, remek diktátor-arckép, sallangmentes ábrázolása annak, mit tesz a hatalom az ember lelkével, és hogy rágja le róla mindazt, amit a jó szándéknak addig sikerült felépítenie.

Mindez azonban csak egy lyukas garast érne (lyukatlant semmiképp), ha az elbeszélő személye nem lenne ilyen jól megcsinálva. Renault hőse Nikératosz, aki athéni és aki színész – ezzel a két jelzővel pedig a szerző újabb ellentéteket is beemel a szövegbe. Egyfelől Nikératosz athéniként demokrata, és ösztönösen ellenérzésekkel viseltetik a zsarnokság mindenféle megnyilvánulása iránt (igen, még Platón esetleges zsarnoksága iránt is), másfelől meg színész, ami azért is praktikus, mert így 1.) van ürügye végigturnézni az akkori ismert világot 2.) módot ad Renaultnak arra, hogy fitogtathassa széles körű tudását a korszak színművészetéről, amely színművészet baromi érdekes dolog ám. De ami a legfontosabb: Nikératosz emellett talpig becsületes is, mentes az irigységtől, elkötelezett mind barátai, mind hivatása iránt – és ha ez a két elköteleződés szembe kerül egymással, akkor nem rest bátor döntést hozni, olyat, ami ha kényelmetlen vagy veszedelmes is, de mindig felismerni benne a lelkiismeret parancsát. Minden ízében szimpatikus fazon, én nagyon bírtam.

Jól össze van rakva a könyv, számos olyan síkot futtat, amiben öröm volt elmerülni. Ahogy az egyszeri moly-értékelő mondaná: „fogok még a szerzőtől olvasni”. ( )

The hands that had traced my painted wounds lifted me gently. I was gathered into the arms of Hecuba: the wrinkled mask with its down-turned mouth bent close above. The flute, which had been moaning softly through the speech, getting a clue, wailed louder. Under its sound, Queen Hecuba whispered in my ear, "Be quiet, you little bastard. You're dead." ( )

The Mask of Apollo is Nikerato's good luck oracle and muse,
smiling silently and using his eyes to convey reactions seen as visions.

Niko's early entry into his father's acting profession steers his lifelong career and loves.

It is a pleasure to read until the endless battles at the finale in Syracuse.
(As well, Niko meeting the young lady of The Academy who showed up unharmed in Syracuse was a stretch.)

Ending is silly - why leave a beautiful gold gift on a grave to be stolen...?
What will The Mask think of THAT?

Here's one from Euripides for January 6th, 2021:

In vain man's expectation;
God brings the unthought to be,
As here we see. ( )

I didn't enjoy this one nearly as much as Bull from the Sea. Perhaps because it was more political and philosophical than mythical and dramatic, which is ironic for a tale centered around the theater. There were many characters to keep track of, so that every time I put the book down, I had to re-orient myself when I picked it back up. She is a wonderful writer and I look forward to the next one, but I would place this one at the bottom of the list of Mary Renault novels to explore. ( )

Top notch fun! A real page turner that had me up well past my bed time, that took me back to Plato's world and helped me understand some of those issues. I'm no classical scholar so I can't judge the historical accuracy, but on the other hand I have read a few of Plato's dialogues and this book seemed to catch the right flavor.

Curiously relevant to modern times, too, sad to say. Politics doesn't really change over the millennia, nor human nature.

This was my introduction to Mary Renault. I am just delighted to have this territory open up for me! ( )

In one quintessentially Greek moment from this superb novel, the narrator recalls the story of a father of two Olympic champions. At the moment when his sons are crowned, the crowd chants to him to "Die now," because, of course, no moment of his life could ever again be so good.

So, in finishing The Mask of Apollo am I tempted to chant to myself: "Give up reading historical fiction now."

'Nuff said. ( )

Greece from the perspective of a very discerning actor's point of view. Renault writes historical fiction in such a way as to cause us to think that's how it might have been with wonderful detail and finely drawn characters. One of her best! ( )

Not as enamoured as I thought I'd be with this. Dion of Syracuse [philosopher from Plato's Academy] as seen through the eyes of Nikeratos [Niko}, a tragic actor. Making her protagonist [sounds like that was the ancient Greek word for the leading man in a play] an actor, Renault gave him the freedom to travel all over and comment. Also we got a great description of the nuts and bolts of the Greek theater [much Renault's conception but plausible]. I thought the story dragged until the sack of Syracuse until the end. ( )

My introduction to Mary Renault was The King Must Die, the first of two novels about Theseus--it was actually assigned reading in high school. What impressed me so much there was how she took a figure out of myth and grounded him historically. After that I quickly gobbled up all of Renault's works of historical fiction set in Ancient Greece. The two novels about Theseus and the trilogy centered on Alexander the Great are undoubtedly her most famous of those eight novels, and I'd add The Last of the Wine, about the Peloponnesian War, as among her best.

By that standard this is one of Renault's, lesser, not as memorable, works. In a way, this feels like a sequel to The Last of the Wine. There Socrates was an important character, here it's Plato. I definitely got the feeling from Renault's novels that she had two historical passions: Alexander the Great and Plato, and the idea that the first was the embodiment of the second's ideal--or would have been, had he had a chance to shape him. The main focus of this novel though is Nikeratos, an Athenian born into the acting trade. And it's certainly interesting seeing the portrait of ancient Greek theater. And compared to much of historical fiction, this is still a marvel. I'd probably recommend The King Must Die as an introduction to Renault, then read the sequel, The Last of the Wine and the Alexander works before hitting this one--but this is definitely a pleasure. ( )

Story of an actor in tragedies in ancient Greece in the 300s BC --a wonderful scene when a rival sabotages the crane carrying him as Apollo and he thinks he will crash and die but finishes his speech anyway. He acts in a play written by Dionysius of Syracuse; he sees Plato's attempt to educate Dionysius's heir, Dionysius the younger, and the attempt by Dion, a more genuine disciple of Plato, to reform Syracuse. Some emotional byplay--the actor thinks of himself as homosexual but has a brief encounter with one of Plato's female students (they are escaping from political chaos in Syracuse); my impression is that it means more to the actor tan he admits to himself, though they both continue their previous orientations. ( )

Nikeratos, born into an acting family in Athens at the time of Plato, tells the story of his life. An actor's peripatetic life brings him into contact with all types of men (and even occasionally women) and gives him a walk on part in the doomed attempts to build a Platonic system of virtuous government in tyrant ridden Syracuse. Greece is evoked beautifully and Renault's imaginative retelling of one of the most important periods in western history is seamless between fact and very credible imaginings. I never quite, however, engaged with Nikos - and as this is a very linear first person narrative that was a bit of a problem. As an actor he is essentially a passer by, a player on the stage but not in real events and this was mirrored in a rather detached way of narrating. This perhaps also mirrored the conventions of Greek drama that the real action takes place off stage, regardless of the splendid events on it. Recommended, but not - I think - in the same class as her Alexander trilogy (as readers of the last few pages when he blazes over the book will see..)

I love the fiction of Mary Renault and this is the first of her novels that I read. At the time I already had begun to acquire a passion for ancient Greece from a wonderful Latin teacher in high school. Luckily for us in addition to teaching us Latin our teacher imbued in us an interest in learning about everything classical that grew for me into more reading and led me to the discovery of Mary Renault and her historical fiction set in ancient Greece. The story of The Mask of Apollo involves the world of live theater and political intrigue in the Mediterranean at the time.

The narrator, Nikeratos is a successful professional actor, and Renault vividly evokes the technologies and traditions of classic Greek Tragedy. With detailed recreations of what might have been involved in the staging of a theatrical production of the time, she describes the music, scenery, mechanical special effects devices, and especially the practice of the three principal actors sharing the various roles in a performance, along with authentic gossip involved in these casting decisions.

Nikeratos, is an invented character, but real historical figures such as Dion of Syracuse and Plato make appearances. It is Renault's seamless blend of real historical characters within her fictional stories that makes her novels come alive for me. I even sometimes think, being an inveterate play-goer, what would it be like to pray or prepare a sacrifice for the success of the play before-hand. Some plays could use the help. I would recommend Mary Renault's novels of Ancient Greece to anyone who has an interest in our classical Greek heritage. ( )

Nikeratos, an actor of the 4th century BC, comes to the attention of the statesman and diplomat Dion, son-in-law of the ruler of Syracuse and friend of Plato. As their paths cross over the years Nikeratos gets drawn into Syracusan politics and Plato's attempt to put his theories of a philosopher king into practice.

It took me a while to get into this one but Mary Renault knows how to draw her readers into the world she describes and the memorable characters she creates and re-creates. ( )

Rereading this after several years, I realised I had forgotten quite a lot. Nikeratos's first-person narration drew me in very well, and I really enjoyed the descriptive detail of Greek theatre.

2015 re-read: I couldn't get my head around Niko's admiration of Dion. I enjoy the theatre details and would love to have more of it rather than Syracusan politics. ( )

This was the first adult book that truly knocked my socks off.The protagonist, a tragic actor, is so likeable even with his catty little faults that he takes you on a journey to a very different world. And his boyfriend is just lovely. Mary Renault was a genius. ( )

A hardcover to replace my beloved falling-apart-at-the-seams paperback. Still one of the best ever written about Greek theater. ( )

I have read this book until it has fallen apart. I am entranced by the "backstage" atmosphere of the story, by the doomed nobility of Dion, by the struggles of Niko to remain true to his craft in the face of corruption and politics. ( )

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